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Soaring unemployment rates and heftier signing bonuses helped the U.S. military meet all its annual recruiting goals for the first time since it became an all-volunteer force in 1973. The quality of recruits also improved: 95% of Army soldiers have a high school diploma, up from 83% in 2008, and fewer felons and overweight applicants enlisted.

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Cutting in Colorado: The Centennial State says it will reduce its hourly minimum wage by 4¢ next year, to $7.24, becoming the first to lower its rate since the U.S. passed a minimum-wage law in 1938. Officials say a 2006 amendment to Colorado's constitution--in which voters opted to tie minimum wage to inflation--forces them to cut the rate because the state's consumer price index fell this summer.